Lesser Pantheon

These gods are sometimes included in the Greek Pantheon but are not considered "regulars."

Asclepius

While the healing god Asclepius is not a major player in Greek mythology, he is a pivotal one. Counted as one of the Argonauts, Asclepius came into contact with many of the major Greek heroes. Asclepius was also a causal figure in a drama played out between Apollo, Death, Zeus, the Cyclops, and Hercules. This story comes to us through Euripides' tragedy, Alcestis .

The Parents of Asclepius

Apollo (the brother of the virginal goddess Artemis) was no more chaste than any of the other (male) gods. His lovers and would-be lovers included Marpessa, Coronis, Daphne (one who got away by having herself transformed into a tree), Arsinoe, Cassandra (who paid for her scorn with the gift of prophecy no one believed), Cyrene, Melia, Eudne, Thero, Psamathe, Philonis, Chrysothemis, Hyacinthos, and Cyparissos. As a result of their union with Apollo, most of the women produced sons. One of these sons was Asclepius. The mother is debated. She may have been Coronis or Arsinoe, but whoever the mother was, she didn't live long enough to give birth to her healing god son.

The Creation of Asclepius

Apollo was a jealous god who was mightily displeased when a crow revealed that his lover was to marry a mortal, so he punished the messenger by changing the color of the formerly white bird to the now more familiar black. Apollo also punished his lover by burning her, although some say it was Artemis who actually disposed of the "faithless" Coronis (or Arsinoe). Before Coronis was completely incinerated, Apollo rescued the unborn infant from the flames. A similar event occurred when Zeus rescued the unborn Dionysus from Semele and sewed up the fetus in his thigh.

Asclepius may have been born in Epidauros (Epidaurus) of acoustically perfect theater fame [Stephen Bertman: The Genesis of Science].

Asclepius' Upbringing - The Centaur Connection

The poor, newborn Asclepius needed someone to bring him up, so Apollo thought of the wise centaur Chiron (Cheiron) who seems to have been around forever -- or at least since the time of Apollo's father, Zeus. Chiron roamed the countryside of Crete while the king of the gods was growing up, hiding from his own father. Chiron trained several of the great Greek heroes (Achilles, Actaeon, Aristaeus, Jason, Medus, Patroclus, and Peleus) and willingly undertook the education of Asclepius.

Apollo was also a god of healing, but it wasn't he, but Chiron who taught the god's son Asclepius the healing arts. Athena also helped. She gave Asclepius the precious blood of the Gorgon Medusa.

The Story of Alcestis

The blood of the Gorgon, which Athena gave Asclepius, came from two very different veins. The blood from the right side could heal mankind -- even from death, while the blood from the left vein could kill, as Chiron would ultimately experience first-hand.

Asclepius matured into a capable healer, but after he brought mortals back to life -- Capaneus and Lycurgus (killed during the war of the Seven Against Thebes), and Hippolytus, son of Theseus -- a worried Zeus slew Asclepius with a thunderbolt.

Apollo was enraged, but getting mad at the king of the gods was futile, so he took out his anger on the creators of the thunderbolts, the Cyclops. Zeus, enraged in his turn, was prepared to hurl Apollo to Tartarus, but another god intervened -- possibly Apollo's mother, Leto. Zeus commuted his son's sentence to a year's term as herdsman to a human, King Admetus.

During his term in mortal servitude, Apollo grew fond of Admetus, a man doomed to die young. Since there was no longer an Asclepius with his Medusa-potion to resurrect the king, Admetus would be gone forever when he died. As a favor, Apollo negotiated a way for Admetus to avoid Death. If someone would die for Admetus, Death would let him go. The only person willing to make such a sacrifice was Admetus' beloved wife, Alcestis.

On the day Alcestis was substituted for Admetus and given to Death, Hercules arrived at the palace. He wondered about the display of mourning. Admetus tried to convince him nothing was wrong, but the servants, who missed their mistress, revealed the truth. Hercules set off for the Underworld to arrange for Alcestis' return to life.

The Offspring of Asclepius

Asclepius hadn't been killed immediately after leaving the centaur's school. He had had time to engage in various heroic endeavors, including fathering his share of children. His progeny would and did carry on the healing arts. Sons Machaon and Podalirius led 30 Greek ships to Troy from the city of Eurytos. It is unclear which of the two brothers healed Philoctetes during the Trojan War. Asclepius' daughter is Hygeia (connected with our word hygiene), goddess of health.

Other children of Asclepius are: Janiscus, Alexenor, Aratus, Hygieia, Aegle, Iaso, and Panaceia.

The Name of Asclepius

You may find the name of Asclepius spelled Asculapius or Aesculapius (in Latin) and Asklepios (also, in Greek).

Shrines of Asclepius

The best known of the roughly 200 Greek shrines and temples of Asclepius were at Epidaurus, Cos, and Pergamum. These were places of healing with sanatoria, dream therapy, snakes, regimes of diet and exercise, and baths. The name of such a shrine to Asclepius is asclepieion/asklepieion (pl. asclepieia). Hippocrates is thought to have studied at Cos and Galen at Pergamum.

Heracles

A Possible Biography:

Why Hercules Was Immortal

There were many heroes who could claim Zeus, the king of the gods, as their father, but few were immortal. Hercules and his half-brother Dionysus [the superscript p+ a digit means there is a pronunciation guide for the name at the bottom of this article] (Bacchus) claimed immortality as an accident at birth. Dionysus was immortal because, although conceived by the mortal woman Semele^p2, he was actually born from the thigh of Zeus. Dionysus is, therefore, referred to as "twice-born." Hercules was born in a more normal manner, from a human woman. His final dose of immortality sprang from the Queen of the gods, Hera, whose milk he drank at birth.

How Hercules Made the Milky Way

Hera didn't know whose child she suckled -- just that its mother had abandoned her baby, but when the newborn sucked too hard, Hera threw him from her breast with a cosmic spurt of milk that created the Milky Way.

From nurturer she became enemy. When she learned the strong baby's identity, she sent snakes to strangle the infant Hercules and his hapless brother, Iphicles (I pronounce this like IF-ic-kleez). But Hercules only chortled as he strangled the snakes in his chubby baby fists.

The Name Hercules:

What Does Herculean Mean?

Hercules is portrayed as larger than life in most areas -- especially his physical prowess, his sexual appetites, and his relationship with death, which is why we have the word "herculean". In just one paragraph of Apollodorus, Hercules impregnates 50 sisters; diverting a river to wash out the Augean stables was the act of a day.

By the Renaissance, Hercules was an example of moral virtue. But he wasn't all noble. At times Hercules seems simply foolish. He also:

• ravished virgins,
• violated the rules of hospitality, and
• murdered his own children.

It's small wonder that with all his variety he continues to fuel the imagination of dramatists.

Shouldn't It Be Heracles?

The name Heracles means "the Glory of Hera" somewhat ironically honoring the demigod's nemesis. The Roman name Hercules -- the one that is generally used in English to refer to either the Roman version of the demigod or the Greek -- is based on the Etruscan name Hercle. It's easy to see the path from Heracles to Hercle to Hercules.

His Enemies:

One Even Worse Than Hera

Hera drove Hercules mad. In his altered state, he killed his family. In penance for the unforgivable acts he committed, he performed the 12 labors  that Hera, again, instigated.

But Hera wasn't his only or deadliest enemy.

Hercules, who couldn't be defeated in combat, killed Nessus. He was a centaur -- that mythological half-human half-horse breed. Centaurs were varied in character, like everyone else. Nessus was very different from the kindly centaur Chiron, who trained most of the heroes in Greek mythology.

After trying to rape Hercules' new wife, he conned her into taking a deadly gift, his blood, poisoned when Hercules hot him. Nessus' blood had produced the weapon of Hercules' destruction.

Immortals don't usually die. Burning alive from Nessus' poisoned blood, Hercules begged his father to let him die and so end the pain.

Mercifully, Zeus intervened.

Ironically, once Hercules was dead and resurrected, he and his step-mother were reconciled. Hera made him her son-in-law by bestowing her daughter Hebe^p5 in marriage.

At least that's one version of Hercules' life and death.

Ancient Sources on Hercules

Sifting through the conflicting information on Hercules is almost a herculean task in itself. His personality has been described as kaleidoscopic*.

Most of what we know about the mythic hero comes from:

The Library of (Pseudo-)Apollodorus**, but

• Pausanias,
• Tacitus, and
• Plutarch

also wrote about him, and there were Ancient Historians like Herodotus who wrote especially about a Hercules worshiped in Egypt.

Name: Greek - Hestia; Roman - Vesta

Family

Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Siblings: Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus. Hestia was the oldest and youngest sibling -- following the regurgitation of the gods by Papa Cronus.
Mates: None
Children: None

Role of Hestia

For Humans: Hestia was goddess of the town and family hearth and the fire in the hearth. She presided over the cooking of meals, the happiness of the home, and the community's harmony.
For Gods: Hestia received part of the offerings to them in every sacrifice. Since the sacrifices required the fire of the hearth altar, Hestia presided over sacrifices to the gods.

Canonical Olympian? No. Hestia, while one of the principal goddesses, is said to have given up her seat to another, probably Dionysus. Besides, Hestia is hearth-bound.